Category: KCKCC

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s Brandon Burgette has his first Jayhawk Conference win as a head coach, thanks to a workman-like 88-69 win over Hesston Saturday.

Building a 15-point lead in the first half, the Blue Devils never trailed in ending Hesston’s 9-game winning streak. The loss dropped the Larks to 13-6 overall and 1-1 in conference play while KCKCC (8-12) won for the sixth time in the last 10 games.

Enjoying the win will be short-lived, The Blue Devils are right back in action Monday when they host Park University’s junior varsity at 6 p.m. (a game originally scheduled for 7 p.m.). Then it’s back on the road for the Blue Devils, who are at Fort Scott Wednesday (7:30 p.m.) and Highland Saturday (3 p.m.).

The Blue Devils took control against Hesston with long-range shooting and domination of the defensive rebounding.

KCKCC outscored Hesston 24-3 from 3-point in the first half, knocking down 8-of-20 treys while the Larks managed just one three in eight attempts. Deron McDaniel had three 3-pointers and Ezekiel Lopes and Jalen Davis two each in the opening surge.

The Blue Devils also limited Hesston to just one first half offensive rebound on the way to a 40-34 edge on the boards. Robert Rhodes had a game high 12 rebounds, six in each half, while Jermaine Yarbough added seven and Calvin Slaughter six.

KCKCC opened a 27-12 lead in the first 13 minutes, had a 43-34 advantage at halftime and then expanded it to as many as 23 points in the second half.

“The guys stepped up and made shots in the zone,” Burgette said. “We also did a good job guarding the three and gang rebounding.”

Hesston managed just 4-of-19 3-pointers for 21.1 percent and 39.6 percent overall. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils were an identical 15-of-34 each half for 44.1 percent.

Six Blue Devils accounted for all but two points. Davis had 19 points, McDaniel 18, Lopes 17 and Slaughter 15 to lead the way while DeAngelo Ball added nine and Rhodes eight. Slaughter and Ball shared assist honors with five while Slaughter also had four steals and Lopes and Rhodes three each.

“We let one slip away Wednesday,” Burgette said. “Today, we came back with a lot of energy, played fast, made shots and sped them up to run in transition. A good win.”

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

The worst thing Hesston may have done Saturday was forge a 22-22 tie with Kansas City Kansas Community College.

The Lady Blue Devils scored 22 of the next 24 points on the way to an 82-55 win.

The win evened KCKCC’s Jayhawk Conference record at 1-1 and overall record at 19-2 heading into a string of three straight games on the road – at Park University junior varsity Tuesday at 5 p.m., at Fort Scott Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. and at No. 6 ranked Highland Saturday at 1 p.m.

Caroline Hoppock and Aliyah Myers combined to break open Saturday’s win over Hesston, scoring all 14 KCKCC points in building a 36-24 halftime lead.

Myers and Hoppock each had a 3-pointer and two layups after Hesston had pulled even 22-22 with 5:34 left in the half.

The Blue Devils, who had given up an early 22-12 lead, then scored the first eight points of the second half to complete a 22-2 run for a 44-24 lead and Hesston never came close the rest of the way.

Hoppock led all scorers with 19 points including a trio of treys while Myers and Brodi Byrd added 13 points apiece and Jada Mayberry 11. Tiaira Earnest chipped in with eight points and Kamryn Estell and Destiny Zamudio seven each.

At 5-6, Byrd led KCKCC rebounding with nine along with four assists and two steals. Earnest also had four assists while Myers had five rebounds and Hoppock, Estell and Mayberry four each although as a team, the Blue Devils were out-rebounded 43-38. That, however, was more than nullified by 33 Hesston turnovers that resulted in 27 KCKCC points.

“I think this team (is) mentally and physically tired and the lack of experience is showing right now,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “We’ve been going at this since August, a lot longer process than any of them are used to. This is the second straight game we’ve had an awful practice the day before and the second straight day we had a reflection of our practice in the game. We got out-rebounded, had 18 turnovers and shot the ball poorly, especially from 3-point (26.9 percent). We just must do better if we’re going to compete in this conference.”

Once through this week’s three games on the road, the Blue Devils will have four of the next five contests at home starting a week from Wednesday (Feb. 5) against No. 4 ranked Johnson County.

Nearly 100 KCKCC student-athletes will be recognized between games that evening as part of the annual Academic Achievement Night activities.

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College couldn’t overcome Labette’s hot shooting in the second half Wednesday.

Leading 37-33 at halftime, the Cardinals knocked down 14-of-25 second half shots (.560) to turn back every Blue Devil challenge in a 79-71 win in the opening Jayhawk Conference game for both teams in Parsons.

The win boosted Labette’s record to 13-6 while KCKCC fell to 7-12 heading into the Blue Devils’ conference home opener Saturday against Hesston (scheduled women at 2 p.m., men at 4 p.m.).

“We could just never get over the hump,” KCKCC coach Brandon Burgette said. “We would make a run and they would counter with a run.”

Bryson Dennis, a 6-foot freshman guard from Snellville, Georgia, proved to be the biggest thorn in the Blue Devils’ side. Knocking down 10-of-13 shots from the field including 3-of-4 three-pointers, Dennis had a game high 25 points along with five steals and four assists.

“He ran through the gaps on defense to get those five steals which led to runout baskets,” Labette coach Jerrod Stanford said.

Deron McDaniel had 19 points to lead the Blue Devils. Calvin Slaughter added 14, Robert Rhodes 12, DeAngelo Bell 8, Jermaine Yarbough 7, Ezekiel Lopes 6 and Jalen Davis 5. Rhodes had eight rebounds and Slaughter five to lead the Blue Devils.

Defensively, KCKCC limited the Cardinals to 39.5 percent shooting the first half and forced the Cardinals to melt away the shot clock hunting high-quality shots.

“They (KCKCC) did a good job stopping our initial action,” Stanford said. “Our kids had to adjust and make good decisions. We were able to do that and make shots. But KCK did a great job on defense. Thankfully, we were locked in mentally to see the second options and make those plays.”

“We got out-toughed and still had chances to win,” Burgette said. “Just didn’t execute the game plan well enough and turned the ball over a lot.”

The Blue Devils were guilty of 18 turnovers but Labette had 17. Also, the Cardinals had only a 37-36 edge in rebounding.

In the end, KCKCC was 21-of-53 shots for 39.6 percent while the big second half enabled the Cardinals to make 29-of-63 shots for 46 percent. KCKCC converted 24-of-30 free throws (.800) but Labette outscored the Blue Devils 30-15 from 3-point, knocking down 10-of-21 treys (.476) to 5-of-17 for KCKCC (.294).

In other Jayhawk openers Wednesday, Johnson County won 63-55 at Highland while Hesston took a 62-61 heart-stopper at Fort Scott.